Bennington County Conservation District

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Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium

The Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium, new in 2007, is a collaborative between forest landowners, consulting foresters, loggers, the Bennington County Conservation District (BCCD), and the Bennington County Forester's office. Our mission is to promote dialogue and learning between forest landowners, resources professionals, and the general public, and encourage landowners to think of their forests in a sustainable manner.

Sustainable forestry protects the ongoing productivity of a forest's tree species. It preserves native plant and animal biodiversity, clean water, and clean air. In some areas, sustainable forestry preserves cultural as well as ecological benefits - things like recreational opportunities, pristine vistas, or a sense of wildness. It offers employment and investment opportunities to local residents. Sustainable forestry fairly values the efforts of those who labor in the woods, and the products they send to market. And most importantly, sustainable forestry is a long-term undertaking, where success is gauged over several decades, even several generations.

A variety of threats presently affect our forests. Climate change, acid rain, invasive species, and deer and moose damage are major biological stressors in Vermont. An ailing housing market nationwide, a statewide scarcity of value-adding industries, a shrinking wood products labor force, and financial pressures to sell wood out of state are some of the economic stressors threatening our working forests. One of the largest threats to a resilient, diverse, and productive forest ecology and economy in Vermont, however - and one we can address through grassroots actions - may be a lack of understanding of our forest resource by landowners and the general public. Our workshop series addresses this need.

Workshops to date have covered Vermont's use value program, forest access roads and water quality, winter tree identification, and carbon sequestration, policies and programs. Future programs will include:

• Exploitive or Responsible Forestry? (August 20, 2008) - Pre-registration by August 15 required. Event Announcement.
• Edible wild woodland plants (May 27, 2008) - Event Announcement | Event Follow-up
• High grading/diameter-limit cutting
• Focus Species Management/Wildlife Day
• Wood ID
• Forest biomass and new marketing initiatives
• Mammal tracking
• Site assessment and management objectives
• Silviculture
• Harvesting techniques
• Log scaling and milling
• Site visits to various area woodworking facilities